13 (Tzameti) - Scene analysis

Film title: 13 Tzameti
Director: Géla Babluani

Plot: Sebastian, a French immigrant builder lets his naivety and thirst for the money a previous employer owes him get the better of him. He follows a trail of instructions left for his recently deceased customer which lead him to corrupt and deadly game.

Reviews:
"A simple premise filled with style and tension" - Vincent, Ireland (2007)


 


Analysis of "Round 1" scene:

At the beginning of this scene we are introduced to the umpire of the corrupt game, the camera is level to his feet and then pans up to represent a low angle shot of the character. This is effective as it signifies how much power the character has over the game and therefore portrays to us his authority. His laid back body language, costume and even looks resemble and could be a sign of intertextuality to Tyler Durden, the nameless character's alter-ego in the film "Fight Club". They also both harbor similar roles as an overseer to illegal underground events.





There is significant contrast between tones and furthermore character in this particular shot. The vast crowd of smartly dressed men are mostly wearing dark colours, whereas one of the players is just wearing a white t-shirt. This indicates how insignificant players are in comparison to the gamblers, almost as if they are animals owned and controlled by the men in the background, completely worthless to the world and purely a source of money and luck. In addition, the rule of thirds shot used draws attention to the player and further divides the boundary between player and gambler. Babluani
challenges generic conventions of claustrophobic location here. This is as, instead of being trapped by walls or dead ends, players are trapped by people instead.

A close-up of Sébastien allows the audience to identify with his worried and confused feelings, showing us that he's in deeper than he imagined. Furthermore, this is a great example of how Babluani focuses on close-ups, facial expressions, character movements and fluid cinematography as apposed to dialogue in order to tell the story.


Babluani establishes an interesting contrast between generically used point of view shots. This is as apposed to an over-the-shoulder shot or a point of view shot from a character's eyes, Babluani features the character's out of focus head in the center of the mise-en-scene. This is effective as it masks the central action and therefore creates tension.

The panning camera movement could be symbolic of the spinning revolver cylinders. Aswell as this the panning movement is also effective in portraying the different characters expressions, for example, there is a huge contrast between the emotions of the first character focused on and the second. The first looks determined and not phased by what's about to happen at all, whereas the second looks terribly frightened.

This particular shot further symbolizes the amount of power the umpire wields. We can see this through him being portrayed on the same level as the raised weapons, therefore indicating his force as being identical to that of the revolvers.

Babluani establishes generic conventions of noir lighting, we can note the indicated connection through the dimly lit and shadowy face of the player.  This adds suspense and heightens the tension of the game. In addition, Babluani could also be referencing noir thrillers, particularly through the combination of the pointing gun and lighting. For example, Harry Lime aiming his gun at the police in "The Third Man". 

The close-up of the light bulb symbolizes how much of an important component it is for characters in relation to the game. Where by as soon as it lights up it will reveal each players individual fate be it relief, death or the reality of killing another man. Furthermore, the panning camera action and shot reverse shot cuts between bulb and players shows the amount of focus everyone has on the light bulb. Aswell as this, the atmosphere suddenly becomes completely quiet with only a few nervous breathes, this combined with camera movement creates an enormous amount of tension and leaves us on the edge of our seats.  

As the light finally turns on, quick camera cuts move us from player to player. Suspense is further utilized throughout these transitions as non-diegetic sounds of gun shots are used that don't correlate with the shots in the mise-on-scene, therefore leaving us to wonder who's dead and who's alive. Furthermore, in this particular shot smoke could be a symbol of the spirit escaping the characters body/mind.

The movement of the camera zooming in to the eye could indicate to us how shaken the character is by what he's seen, the transition from close-up to extreme close-up effectively emphasizes this. Furthermore, this could be seen as an intertextual reference to Alfred Hitchcock's "Psycho", whereby the camera reveals an extreme close-up of Marion Crane's eye. However, the movement is zooming out as apposed to zooming in.

  







The overall idea and process of the game proves to be a more contemporary version of Russian roulette. Therefore, I believe 13 Tzameti makes a wide intertextual link to a late scene within "The Deer Hunter", where by characters Mike and Nick play Russian roulette in a rather similar situation.